INTO ORBIT℠

Explore living in and traveling through space!
Gather your crew and get ready to explore, challenge and innovate in the demanding and inspiring expanse we call space!

The 2018/19 FIRST® LEGO® League Season requires you to work together to break out of your earthly constraints. Do you have what it takes to go INTO ORBIT℠?

FIRST® LEGO® League challenges children ages 9 to 16 to think like scientists and engineers. During the 2018/19 INTO ORBIT℠ Season, teams will choose and solve a real-world problem in the Project. They will also build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS technology to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under Core Values celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.

From August 1st, 2018 the detailed challenge missions will be published. Ready to register a team?

Registrations are now Closed

FIRST® LEGO® League is a competition catering for upper-primary and lower-secondary school students. Every year, teams of up to 10 students build, program and compete with a robot, while also learning about a modern problem in science and engineering and developing solutions for it. The entire competition for the year is based around one of these themes: Past themes include natural disasters, senior citizens, food health & safety, climate change, medical science, and nanotechnology. Tournaments are run with the feel of a sporting event, and teams compete like crazy while having the time of their lives. What FIRST® LEGO® League teams accomplish is nothing short of amazing. It’s fun. It’s exciting. And the skills they learn will last a lifetime.

FIRST® LEGO® League is a multi-part competition judged on three important elements:

1. Robot

Teams design, build and program a LEGO® robot to complete a series of challenges. The robot has to operate on pre-programmed instructions, and complete as many tasks as possible in only 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The challenge changes every year and is always based on the year’s central theme. The 2013 game, Natures Fury, was based on natural disasters and robots had to clear branches of power lines, raise flood warning signs, and more. Teams compete on adjacent tables to score as many points as possible, and a number of awards are given for robot performance, programming innovation, and clever design.

2. Project

Every year, teams study the years theme and develop solutions to problems they’ve identified in society. Through the project, teams learn more about the competition theme and present their ideas to a panel of judges. Working on the project teaches students to research, think critically, work as a team and speak publicly. The project shows students they have the power to change the world, as teams can share successful ideas with their community, their school, their families, even all of Australia and the world. The international FIRST® LEGO® League Global Innovation Award provides teams with a way to share their solution with the entire global FIRST community.

3. Core Values

Throughout the competition, teams are judged on their adherence to the FIRST® LEGO® League core values, including teamwork, Coopertition®, and Gracious Professionalism®. This aspect of FIRST® LEGO® League is designed to develop the students of today into the responsible citizens of tomorrow. Good examples of Core Values are observed and recognised with awards and trophies. Through this celebration of good qualities, FIRST® LEGO® League seeks to make students into better competitors, citizens, problem-solvers, and engineers.

Requirements

FIRST® LEGO® League is an incredibly rewarding program for young students, and teams can come from schools, social groups, community groups, homes, church groups, etc.

If you want to start a team, there are a few things you’ll need:

A dedicated adult coach

A LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 or NXT Robot Kit

A FIRST® LEGO® League Game Kit (new themed game kit each year with registration)

A place to meet to work on building robots, practicing games and working on the project.

You will need to buy or build your own Game table.

*Please note that the LEGO® Mindstorms® Robotics Kit is not a part of the yearly FIRST® LEGO® League game kit and must be purchased separately from an authorised retailer. You will receive your game kit(s) from FIRST® New Zealand.

Register your team:

Register a team for the 2018 FIRST® LEGO® League season in New Zealand.

NZD $450 per team for one game kit including GST and shipping

NZD $600 for two teams sharing one game kit including GST and shipping

Note: For competition purposes, you cannot share one game kit with more than two teams. Prices do not include the LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 or NXT Robot.

Registrations are now closed

This registration cost includes a competition challenge set for the team to practice with, and the right to compete at a national tournament. Teams will, however, incur further registration costs to compete outside of New Zealand for World Championships and other International Off-Season events.